Comment: Rail investment will stand the test of time
New rail projects can be a driver for economic recovery. The government deserves praise for committing to their completion.
By Rick Haythornthwaite
In the mid-nineteenth century the railway was banned from building lines and stations into the City and West End by a Royal Commission. The effect of that decision is still felt today and with the exception of the very busy original Thameslink route we currently have no real cross London rail links and a capital sorely in need of additional rail capacity.
So for thousands of London commuters last week’s news that the final phase of the Thameslink Programme has joined Crossrail on the government’s will-do list is very good news indeed.
Together an upgraded north-south Thameslink network and the east-west Crossrail will provide the capacity and services that the capital and its passengers badly need.
We’d all like a commute that takes us straight from our home station to our destination – no changes with none of the stress that connecting services all too often seem to induce.
Both Thameslink and Crossrail will help deliver that aspiration for many thousands of passengers with new and longer trains to a wider choice of destinations- reducing the need for passengers to change trains or transfer to the Tube.
Travellers will see some benefits from the Thameslink Programme very soon with new and better stations at Farringdon and Blackfriars and the first 12 car trains running on the existing Bedford to Brighton route by the end of 2011.
But there are benefits too that go beyond better and quicker journeys.
Thameslink provides a real boost for industry and it will also improve the capital’s competitiveness, delivering a core element of the government’s economic growth strategy and making an immediate, direct and lasting contribution to London’s and Britain’s economic recovery.
Network Rail is also playing its part in improving efficiency and reducing the cost of the railway to taxpayers. Doing more with less must be our mantra.
The government’s go ahead for Thameslink and Crossrail means that after a more than a century-and-a-half, London will finally benefit from an integrated cross city railway.
It will be an improvement that will last beyond all our lifetimes, which will stand as a legacy for future generations.
Rick Haythornthwaite is the chairman of Network Rail.
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